The Legendary Red Box
by Aerilaya
Summary: Legend has it that if you open Red, Wooden Box without permission of the owner, you'll die. Humor, fluff. TsukiHina Epilogue up, complete.
1. The Escalation

A/N: This took way longer than it should to write.

 **Legendary Red Box  
**

Hinata preferred when things in his life are simple because he wasn't an expert at understanding overly complicated matters. Volleyball wasn't complicated, it was awesome and he loved it from the core of his being. He liked his teammates very much, even Kageyama despite not being able to understand what's going through that head of his.

And then there's Tsukishima. Yes, he likes his teammates, but this particular teammate is… something else. Or to put it simple- Tsukishima's complicated on a degree that Hinata can't even bring himself to think about.

After some time, he managed to read Kageyama's moods, but he still can't tell what's on blond's mind when he offers that sly smile. Or is it sly? Maybe it's genuine? Perhaps there's hidden agenda behind it? By the time Hinata manages to untangle himself from the web Tsukishima makes, the punch line is way over his head and Tsukishima's nowhere to be seen.

So Hinata decided that next time, he will be the one unpredictable, leaving Tsukishima behind in awe and wonder.

With that fierce determination, he ran to the club room, ready to dish out the speech he's been preparing whole day, at Tsukishima. But the club room was empty.

Save for one, red, wooden box on the bench.

Very neat wooden box. Not overly big or overly small.

Giving it an evil eye, Hinata slowly edged towards it, making a circle and then stopping right in front of the box again. He bit his lip as his hand stretched out, lifting the lid only slightly-

"What are you doing?"

A hand clapped over his wrist. Oops.

"Uhm! This- this box, someone forgot it!"  
"I know. I did," Tsukishima said. Hinata's eyes were glued on the box as Tsukishima picked it up and cradled it close to himself.  
"…..what?"  
"I was just curious about what's in it."

Tsukishima's expression changed from calm to dead serious: "The legend says that if you open red wooden box without owner's permission you'll die."

Hinata gulped.

"D-Die?"  
"Yes. Die," Tsukishima murmured, tilting his head. "Why? Did you open it?"  
"No! Of course not!"  
"Because if you did—"  
 _ **"I DIDN'T OPEN IT!**_ "  
"Alright, stop yelling."

Tsukishima pushed his glasses up and placed the box inside his backpack. Hinata was frozen in place, and didn't look like he was about to move.

"Well, I'll be leaving then."  
"O-Okay!"

Hinata waited for several moments until he was completely sure that Tsukishima's out of the hearing range, before digging out his cell phone and dialing Kageyama.

" _ **KAGEYAMA, I'M GONNA DIE!"**_

-0-0-0-

"The red wooden box? You opened it and now you're going to die?"  
"YES! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!"  
Kageyama made face: "There's no such thing. He's pulling your strings as always. Nothing's going to happen to you."

Hinata shifted nervously in his seat, the tea Kageyama gave him growing cold. He didn't feel like drinking it. He couldn't calm down- he opened the cursed box!

"But- BUT what if it DOES happen? What then!? I want to play more volleyball! This isn't enough- I'M TOO YOUNG!"  
There's a short pause while Kageyama drinks, then smirks slowly: "If something happens to you we can pin it all on the bastard. He'll go to jail."  
" _STUPID KAGEYAMA! YOU'D RATHER HAVE ME DIE_!?"

-0-0-0-

Kageyama was of no help, as suspected.

The next day, Hinata came to school with black circles under his eyes. Who knows, maybe death would sneak upon him during the night. He can't be TOO sure.  
He spotted Tsukishima standing by the locker with the dreaded red box, talking calmly to Yamaguchi. The other boy didn't look scared of the box and just normally talked to Tsukishima. Maybe… maybe Tsukishima granted him the access to the box and that's why he's not scared of it. That means that he needs to get the access from Tsukishima as well so that box doesn't kill him! It's perfect plan!

The only flaw in this plan was the owner of the box.

He causally walked up to them, hands behind his head, wanting to look relaxed even if every nerve in his body is tense. The box… it's close. Hinata can swear he can hear evil whispers coming from it.

"Ah, Hinata. Good morning," Yamaguchi cheerfully greeted him. Hinata strained his face to smile back, but soft huff of laugh interrupted him.  
"What are you laughing about?! The day didn't even start yet," Hinata muttered, sulking and crossing his arms.

"This," Tsukishima turned to Yamaguchi, "is the person that lifted the lid of the box."  
Hinata froze.  
 **HE KNEW**! The bastard _KNEW_ he opened the box! And didn't offer any help. Well, since it has come to this, he might as well as for help.

" _TSUKISHIMA PLEASE YOU HAVE TO HELP ME I DON'T WANT TO DIE!_ " he blurted out in one breath, grabbing his upper arm. Golden eyes looked down at him and Hinata could swear they were laughing at his demise.  
"You disobeyed, now you have to pay."  
"BUT I DIDN'T KNOW!"  
"Well," Yamaguchi pitched in, "the curse can be removed in two ways."  
"Yamaguchi, you're talking too much. Again."  
"Oops, sorry Tsukki," he laughed, rubbing back of his head.  
Two ways?

"Yamaguchi! You have to tell me!"  
Tsukishima glared at his friend, ignoring Hinata who's almost dangling on his hand. "Don't you dare."  
"PLEASE! Just ignore him!"  
"You, shut up! And stop clinging onto me!" Tsukishima tried to shake off the orange fluff ball, but Hinata refused to let go.  
"No! **NO**! Not until Yamaguchi tells me how to get rid of the curse!"  
Sighing in defeat and clearly not wanting to be stuck with Hinata whole day, Tsukishima nodded at Yamaguchi, who could barely wait to spill the beans.

"Well, first way to remove the curse is obvious, you need permission from the owner of the box and then you have to open the box and bow to it. The second way," a cheeky grin slipped on his face, "is to kiss the owner of the box."  
"To _WHAT_?!"  
"Kiss. Right on the lips, for ten seconds, and the chains of death will let go off you," Yamaguchi finished dramatically.

There was a pause. A slightly uncomfortable pause. Hinata's grip lessened on Tsukishima's arm but he didn't completely let go of him.

"Tsukishima."  
"What?"  
"Grant me permission to open the box."  
"No."  
"Please."  
"Hell no."

"Tsukishima."

"Bend over."

Yamaguchi started laughing. Really, really loudly.

"S-Stop laughing!" Hinata blurted out at freckled boy, all red in face. "I can't reach him so he has to bend over so I can kiss him."  
Yamaguchi's holding onto lockers, doubled over.  
"No."  
"What!? Tsukishima, are you heartless? Do you want me to die?!"  
Tsukishima didn't answer. He just pulled out his hand from Hinata's grip and turned to Yamaguchi, "Let's go, the classes will start."  
Yamaguchi nodded and after calming down, he joined his friend and left the locker area, leaving Hinata behind.

"…this is _NOT OVER_! Do you _HEAR ME TSUKISHIMA_!?" he yelled after them but then realized he's going to be late for class as well and sprinted off to his classroom.

-0-0-0-

The afternoon volleyball practice.

Hinata always looked forward to it. Now, he kind of dreaded it.

His day has been littered with mishaps- he tripped several times, the milk he bought was expired and he banged his head on multiple occasions. The death was coming for him, he could feel it. Those accidents weren't REAL accidents.

But he had devised a plan. He is small, there's no doubt about it, and Tsukishima is almost a giant, another fact he can't go around. But, he can JUMP. A surprise attack and stealing a kiss from Tsukishima would be _perfect_ and the curse will be gone! He just needs the right timing to execute the plan.

And then he spotted it.

Tsukishima was in the right position, facing away from the net, smirking at Kageyama and taunting him as always. He was relaxed and his guard was down. He was also distracted by Daichi who afterwards snapped at him for razzing their setter.

Everything happened in blink of an eye- Hinata's dash, Sugawara's surprised squeak when he ran past him and making him drop the uniform, Tsukishima's shocked, bewildered and slightly frightened look when Hinata appeared in his field on vision on the _same height_ , the tackle and them knocking down the net and net stands.

A thunder of metal falling down rang through the gym, Kageyama stood baffled several feet away from the 'main scene', Daichi was speechless and Tanaka and Noya stopped trying to get Kiyoko's attention. Yamaguchi, of course, was trying to hold back his laugh.

Tsukishima's brain was having hard time to process the situation. He was tackled, in the middle of the gym, knocked over and _kissed_. A firm pressure against his lips, telling him that Hinata's determined not to break the kiss until those ten damned seconds passed. It seemed way longer than the ten seconds if one was to ask Tsukishima.

Hinata pulled away, flushed (from running) and stared at Tsukishima's still shocked face, the feeling of victory finally snapping him back to reality. HE WAS FREE!

"YAAAAAAAY!" He jumped off of Tsukishima and dashed out of the gym to 'celebrate' while everyone looked after him.  
Yamaguchi came over and helped Tsukishima up, subsiding the laughter.

"Ah… I… I didn't think he'd actually do it.. ahah.. pfft!"  
Tsukishima glared at him, "Just shut up."  
Yamaguchi smirked: "Well you should have given him the kiss earlier when he asked for it. Wasn't that the whole point of your master plan?"  
Tsukishima walked over to pick up the volleyball net stands, cheeks slightly tainted with color: "It escalated beyond my calculations."

That day was the first day Hinata finally managed to leave Tsukishima behind in awe and wonder.


	2. Epilogue: The Contents

A/N: I suck at writing lyrics/poems so I borrowed few lines from _**Donna Donathan's poem**_ called: " _ **You are my sunshine**_ ".

 **Legendary Red Box  
** Epilogue: The Contents

 _Scene 1; Day before Hinata encounters Red Box:_

Tsukishima stared at the red paper in front of himself, tapping the pencil against it. He's not a big expert at writing, but this short poem/story should do the trick. Even if it sounds overly cheesy. Hinata won't be able to tell the difference, his mind is always on one track.

He sighs and leans back and pulls down the headphones he's wearing because Yamaguchi sat across of him, peering at the paper.

"You done?"  
"Yeah."  
"Can I read?"  
"No."

Tsukishima frowns at his friend who just chuckles. Yamaguchi doesn't push the matter because it took considerable amount of time, strength and patience to dig out whose Tsukishima's crush is in the first place.

"You think he'll fall for it?"  
"Of course," Tsukishima pushes glasses up.  
"How so?"  
"It's a closed box, sitting alone. And he's overly curious for his own good. I just need to catch him at the right time as he tries to lift the lid."  
Yamaguchi cackles. "Poor Hinata," is what he says, but he doesn't look overly sad.  
Tsukishima huffs softly and places the folded paper inside the box.

 _Scene 2; Day after Hinata encountered Red Box:_

"I can't believe it. You were right," Yamaguchi stared at Tsukishima's red box in awe. They just parted with Hinata and were waiting for class to start.

"You were actually having doubts about it?"  
"No! Well, it seemed almost impossible to do it at the right moment!"  
"Hmpf," Tsukishima scoffs and crosses his arms. His plan was and still is _**perfect.**_ It netted him just what he wanted. Hinata will believe that Tsukishima will never give in and give him the access to the box so the only other option he has is the kiss.

Now he just needs to set up the perfect moment for it. He'll probably "run into him accidentally" after the class. Hinata will demand the kiss and since no one will be around. Tsukishima will comply and snatch the kiss. It was brilliant plan and glasses-boy was very pleased with himself.

 _Scene 3; Day after Hinata encountered Red Box, after the 'tackle' incident:_

Tsukishima has bump on the back of his head from the fall earlier. Hinata got punished by Daichi to clean half of the gym by himself for making a ruckus and knocking down the volleyball net holders. He could also feel Kageyama's suspicious glare throughout the practice but he didn't say anything in the end. Everyone has written off the kiss to Hinata being dumb, reckless and overly hyper.

Tsukishima needed a bit of time to collect himself. Aside from it being his first kiss, he was still having hard time getting over the fact that Hinata actually kissed him. His usually low efforts were even lower at the practice because his thoughts kept wandering. Stupid Hinata, giving him heart attack like that. If he tries something like that next time, Tsukishima will punch him.

Well, not really, but he'll yell.

Maybe.

-0-0-0-

"You're awfully slow, shortie. Everyone left."  
Hinata froze in place. The person he's been avoiding whole day had cornered him just when he was sneaking out from the school grounds by himself.  
"Ahaha...ha, w-well I had to clean up and stuff!"  
"That's because you're moron," Tsukishima grumbles, hands stuck in his pants.

Shorter boy gives him a weird look. He was completely sure that Tsukishima will be seething mad because of what he did. But, he seems oddly calm. Is he… not mad?  
Before Hinata could ask, Tsukishima reaches for his bag and pulls out the Red Box. Hinata gulps.

"Next time, _ask_ , don't go and try to give me concussion," he mutters, handing him over the box.

Hinata stares at it with wide eyes.

"I can… take it? Open it and all?"  
"Yes. It's yours."  
Hinata almost falls off his bike. "Mine!? WHY!?"  
"One- don't yell. Two- you seemed to want it more than me. You can have it."

Once the Box is secure in Hinata's hands, Tsukishima turns around and leaves, leaving his crush excited and way too happy for receiving simple, red box as a gift.

-0- _That night:_ -0-

 _ **You brought me sunshine when I only saw rain;  
you brought me laughter when I only felt pain.**_

Hinata's fingers curled around red paper, his face having the same color.

" _TSUKISHIMA YOU EMBARRASSING BASTARD!_ "

The End.


End file.
